Mount Albert, New Zealand

Mount Albert is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, which is centred on Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, a local volcanic peak which dominates the landscape. By 1911, growth in the area had increased to the point where Mount Albert was declared an independent borough, which was later absorbed into Auckland. The suburb is located to the southwest of the Auckland City Centre.

Geography

The suburb is centred around Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, a volcano which erupted an estimated 120,000 years ago. Ōwairaka / Mount Albert is one of the older volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field, and the westernmost volcanic feature. Approximately 28,000 years ago, Te Kōpuke / Mount Saint John erupted, causing a lava flow in northern Mount Albert, which flowed into the Waitematā Harbour and created the Meola Reef.
Oakley Creek is a major stream on the Auckland isthmus, which forms the western border of the suburb.

History

Early history

One of the earliest names Tāmaki Māori gave to the volcano was Te Puke o Ruarangi. A traditional story involves Ruarangi, a chief of the supernatural Patupaiarehe people, escaping a siege on the volcano through lava tunnels. Other early names include Te Ahi-kā-a-Rakataura or Te Ahi-kā-roa-a-Raka, means 'the long burning fires of Rakataura', referring to its continuous occupation by the Tainui explorer Rakataura. The name Ōwairaka refers to Wairaka, an early Māori ancestor, who was the daughter of Toroa, the captain of the Mātaatua voyaging waka. Wairaka fled to Auckland to escape an unwanted marriage, and established her people on the volcano.
During the early 18th century, the Auckland isthmus was heavily populated by the Waiohua confederation of tribes. Ōwairaka / Mount Albert was the western-most hill-top pā of Waiohua and had extensive terraces and cultivations, although not as many as Maungakiekie or Maungawhau to the east. After a conflict between Waiohua and Ngāti Whātua in the mid-18th century, the area became part of the rohe of Ngāti Whātua. Ngāti Whātua had a much smaller population than the Waiohua, and seaside areas were preferred places to live. Because of this, much of the area fell into disuse. Oakley Creek has been traditionally used by Tāmaki Māori as a source for crayfish, eels and weka. Harakeke and raupō, which grew along the banks of the creek, were harvested here to create Māori traditional textiles.
In 1820, English priest Samuel Marsden visited the area, and climbed to the peak of Ōwairaka / Mount Albert with the paramount chief of Ngāti Whātua, Apihai Te Kawau. The mountain was named during the early colonial era after Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria.

European settlement

On 29 June 1841, Mount Albert was sold to the Crown by Ngāti Whātua, as a part of a 12,000 acre section. The terrain of the area was rough, meaning the area saw slower development compared to other parts of the Auckland isthmus. In the 1860s, New North Road was established as road access for the area and as an alternative to the Great North Road to the north. Mount Albert area became an area of large estates for wealthy landowners, due to its proximity to Auckland township. Large houses including Alberton and Ferndale House were constructed for the families of the area.
In 1866, the Mt Albert Methodist Church was constructed. Later that year in October 1866, the Mt Albert District Highway Board, the first local government in the area, was formed to administer New North Road and surrounding areas. Tensions existed among the ratepayers of the area, primarily between the "mountain" area ratepayers and the city-side ratepayers in Eden Terrace, who believes that they were paying too high rates for a road that did not lead to any specific location. By June 1875, Eden Terrace had split from the Mt Albert District Highway Board. The first school in the area, Mt Albert School, was established in 1870 on land gifted by John McElwain, at School Road in Morningside.
Early society in Mount Albert centred around the Anglican Church, and figures such as pioneer Allan Kerr Taylor and his wife Sophia Taylor. The Kerr Taylor family renovated their home in the early 1870s, transforming Alberton into an elaborate Anglo-Indian-inspired mansion, that hosted many formal events in the area.
Mount Albert railway station opened in March 1880, connecting Morningside to Auckland city by rail, and spurring suburban growth. In the 10 years after 1881, the population of Mount Albert doubled to 1,400 people. During the latter 19th century, a quarry was established on Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, with a rail spur connecting the quarry to the North Auckland Line. Local residents had become concerned for the mountain, and petitioned the government to stop the quarry in 1895 and 1915. The Railways department chief engineer dismissed the residents' concerns. By 1905, the summit of the mountain became public land, and the quarry was eventually closed in 1928.

Suburban development

By the 1910s, Mount Albert had become one of the fastest growing suburbs of Auckland. The district attracted many families from outside the Anglican community, notably many successful businessmen, who wanted to establish large family homes while still able to commute to Auckland. By 1911, the population of the area had grown to 6,666, and in 1912 the King George V Hall opened, becoming a social hub for Mount Albert. The area was still significantly more rural compared to Kingsland in the north-east, home to many dairy and poultry farms. In 1915, the Auckland tramline reached the suburb, creating suburban growth and leading to the development of the Mount Albert commercial shopping area, originally known as Ohlsen's Corner. As the Mount Albert shops developed, the area gained the name the Terminus, as at the time it was the final stop on the tramline along New North Road.
Growth in the area led to the creation of the Mount Albert Borough on 1 April 1911. The borough took our significant loans, in order to invest in the water supply for the area. Between 1901 and 1931, the population of the area surged from 2,035 to 20,600, making Mount Albert the largest borough in New Zealand. After World War II, a major housing shortage in New Zealand led to the construction of many state housing areas, including the Stewart Estate in Mount Albert.
The Mount Albert shops flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1960s, Mount Albert had a significantly older population than the surrounding areas of Auckland. In April 1961, the Mount Albert War Memorial Hall, a large modernist community centre, was constructed. Urban Māori and Pasifika communities grew in the area from the 1950s onwards, and increased in the 1970s due to the gentrification of the inner city suburbs close to the Auckland city centre. The Mount Albert shopping village began to go into a decline in the 1970s, after the establishment of the St Lukes Shopping Centre to the north.
By the 1990s, Mount Albert has developed into a multicultural centre in Auckland, with a growth in Indian, Sri Lankan and Chinese communities, in part caused by two tertiary institutes in the area: Unitec Institute of Technology and the Auckland Institute of Studies.

Demographics

Mount Albert covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².
Mount Albert had a population of 12,666 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 147 people since the 2018 census, and an increase of 438 people since the 2013 census. There were 6,255 males, 6,333 females and 78 people of other genders in 4,254 dwellings. 5.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 2,373 people aged under 15 years, 2,790 aged 15 to 29, 6,078 aged 30 to 64, and 1,440 aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 63.5% European ; 10.8% Māori; 10.1% Pasifika; 26.4% Asian; 3.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders ; and 1.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 93.8%, Māori language by 2.2%, Samoan by 2.3%, and other languages by 24.5%. No language could be spoken by 2.0%. New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 35.0, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 29.9% Christian, 3.4% Hindu, 2.8% Islam, 0.5% Māori religious beliefs, 1.7% Buddhist, 0.4% New Age, 0.2% Jewish, and 1.5% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.3%, and 5.6% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 4,545 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 3,810 had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 1,956 people exclusively held high school qualifications. 2,043 people earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 5,562 people were employed full-time, 1,512 were part-time, and 324 were unemployed.

Name	Area	Population	Density	Dwellings	Median age	Median income
Mount Albert West	1.39	2,649	1,906	849	35.1 years	$44,300
Mount Albert North	1.51	4,143	2,774	1,437	35.1 years	$47,800
Mount Albert Central	1.31	3,564	2,721	1,188	37.7 years	$52,200
Mount Albert South	0.83	2,310	2,783	780	38.4 years	$48,700
New Zealand					38.1 years	$41,500

Government

In October 1866, the Mt Albert District Highway Board, the first local government in the area, was formed to administer New North Road and the surrounding areas. In 1911, the board became the Mount Albert Borough, which elected a mayor. In 1978, Mount Albert became a city, and in 1989 it was absorbed into Auckland City. In November 2010, all cities and districts of the Auckland Region were amalgamated into a single body, governed by the Auckland Council.
Mount Albert is a part of the Albert-Eden local board area. The residents of Albert-Eden elect a local board, and two councillors from the Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward to sit on the Auckland Council.
Mount Albert has been part of the Mount Albert electorate since 1946, except for the 1996–99 term, when it was the Owairaka electorate. The electorate has been held by Helen White of the Labour Party since 14 October 2023.